Water to Go purification system

I have had the Water to Go purification system bottle around 3 months now (mental note: buy replacement filter) and now use it for all my drinking water wherever I happen to be, which most of the time happens to be the office.

water_to_go_bottle_side

I was curious to see it in action after watching some demonstration videos so I went to the lake outside the office and filled the bottle, I then opened the spout and poured the filtered water into a glass. Then it was time to carry out some blind taste testing against tap water and bottled water, some colleagues played guinea pigs after they watched me take a drink from each glass first. They were able to tell which one was tap water very easily and were impressed with the taste of the filtered water, one colleague who was going traveling even brought one straight after.

The filter which lasts for 200 litres, or 3 months was made with technology specifically developed for the NASA space programme has been proved to remove 99.9% of contaminates in the water such as:

Metals & Chemicals

  • Chlorine
  • Chromium, Mercury, Nickel, Copper, Iron
  • Lead, Arsenic, Gold, Silver
  • Aluminium
  • Volatile Organic Compounds including Formaldehyde

Virus

  • Norwalk, Hepatitis A, Tota Virus, Adenoviruses, Enteroviruses, Reoviruses

Bacteria

  • Coliform, E Coli, Cholera, Typhus
  • Dysentery, Botulism, Polio, Virus Botulism
  • Vibrio Disease, Campylobacteriosis
  • Leptospirosis – Weils Disease
  • Legionella (Legionnaires Disease and Pontiac Fever)

Oocysts- Protazoa

  • Giardia lamblia

Parasites and waterborne pathogens
This list is abridged but includes some of the most recognizable and common problems.

  • Fasciolopsiasis Taeniasis – Tapeworm
  • Echinococcosis Ascariasis
  • Coenorosis Schistosomiasis
  • Cryptosporidium Tryonosoma (Sleeping Sickness)
  • Threadworm Guinea Worm
  • Hookworm Roundworm
  • Pinworm Onchiocerca
  • Fasciola Hepatica/Liver fluke

This filter will even turn cola into water (Filters will become inefficient if used with additives such as isotonic powders, cordials, juices etc. Not recommended to filter urine for drinking purposes.)

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Shark Tinderbox Leatherwork Courses

I was looking to do something different for my third wedding anniversary, tradition dictates that leather was the gift. Originally I was looking at suggesting a new pouch or sheath when the wife asked what I would like and I was looking on the Shark Tinderbox website at their leather items, then I spotted that they did a variety of courses. This way we get to make the items together making them extra special.

When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by Mark and Helen, over beverages we looked at the pouches we can choose from. My wife had decided that she would like a belt and I went for a possibles pouch, then we entered the workshop. I like visiting workshops and looking around at all the different tools and bits, my attention was immediately drawn to a Shark Tinderbox knife. So balanced, light and so comfortable in any position. (I now know what I would like for my birthday)

First task was to select the leather, Mark picked out a nice dark brown piece that was big enough to make both items. So not only were we making each others items, they were from the same hide.

working away

Once the pieces were ready the construction process just seemed to go by so quickly, I find making things very therapeutic and this was no exception. We both particularly enjoyed the stitching part of the making process, all three of us chatting away while Helen kept popping back to take pictures and see if we would like more refreshments.

I made use of the short breaks between tasks to ask Mark questions about various tinder, flint knapping and how to get a razor “shark” edge on my knives. Mark’s knowledge and passion really shows when he is talking and if you have not watched one of his demonstrations at an event yet you really should.

making a sheath

While the pouch was being wet formed I made a small knife sheath for my wife while learning a new stitch I had not done before.

wet forming the pouch

To finish off the belt I made I had the idea of adding my wife’s initial as a kind of makers mark, what kind of handmade leather items do not have a makers mark? So after I set an M into the end of my wife’s belt, she added an R to my pouch.

setting the stamp

special makers mark

Then all that was needed was some polishing to finish them up, so out came the biggest tin of polish I had ever seen.

final buffing

Once buffed we were complete and we had reached the end of the course with Mark from Shark Tinderbox.

finished_leather_items

Details of the courses we did can be found here:
Belt Making Course
Pouch Making Course

traditional after course photo

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Podcast Episode 14

Back in the studio.

podcast_logo_300x300_shark_tinderbox

After four shows out and about we get together in the studio, congratulations to Joe O’Leary on his new addition. Ray talks about leather working with Shark Tinderbox, Mark reopens the Hand made vs Mass Produced Products vs Army Surplus debate. Adrian from North West Bushcraft talks about home-made fruit leathers and Richard from Original Outdoors catches up with the Northern Soul Bushcrafters in North Wales. There are competitions with prizes from Shark Tinderbox and Northwest Bushcraft up for grabs.

Links:
Shark Tinderbox
North West Bushcraft
Fruit Leather Recipe
Bison Bushcraft
Military Mart
Joe O’Leary – Wilderness Survival Skills
Original Outdoors
Northern Soul Bushcrafters

Download via iTunes OR Via our Feed

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Beck Olja Insect Repellent

Getting bitten is the only part of being outdoors I do not enjoy, I am not sure anyone does like getting bitten. Even a rainy day in the woods is better than a sunny day in the office, however only the jungle strength products seem to work for me and they can leave me feeling nauseous. Then I found Wilma’s Beck Olja.

wilmas_beck_olja

The first warning I got from Mark at Shark Tinderbox was “It kept the wife away for three days” which I laughed at, turns out it is a very good wife repellant that doubles up and keeps biting bugs away. Joking aside I rather like the woodsmoke fragrance which comes from traditional pine tar production, it works well in the office as a quick smell of the contents takes my mind to a campfire in a forest instead of at a desk in London.

You need to reapply after a while and I was so engrossed in the wood carving I was doing that I forgot to add a few more dabs, this resulted in a bite on my arm. That is not a failure of the product, it was a failure to keep a sufficient level of protection by myself.

woodcarving_while_protected

Beck Olja from Wilma’s is the original forest perfume of Swedish Lapland derived from traditional pine tar production. It is a multipurpose product Which is used in many of Wilma’s natural products. It has been used for centuries in Lapland by the people who have lived and worked there as protection against the dreaded mosquito plague in the summers. With a strong pine tar smell, this product evokes the fragrance of a northern Scandinavian forest.

Available in 25ml bottles last for a long time as only a small amount is needed per application and it can be diluted if needed.

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Castaway Challenge 2013

At the end of September I took part in the Seeker News Castaway Challenge. It was a survival challenge where I joined a small team of people I’d never met before. We were taken by boat to a mystery location and dropped on the beach with no food, water and minimal equipment and left to live out wild completing various survival related tasks along the way. The challenge was held to raise money for Diverse abilities plus, a charity that provides help and support to people with profound physical and learning disabilities.

castaway_beach

Here is a brief diary of the things we got up to on the challenge

DAY 1

We got on to the boats to sail to the castaway camp and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we were feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. We landed on the beach and were quickly given a briefing and a demonstration on shelter building, then it was up to us. We set about building our shelter with natural materials around us and by about 5 or 6 o’clock we had somewhere to sleep that hopefully would be warm and dry. By this stage we were all feeling hungry and dinner came in the form of pigeon that was still whole, feathers and all.

castaway_shelter

We got a campfire going had a bite to eat and relaxed for the evening getting our bed spaces sorted and trying to make it as comfortable as we could.

DAY 2

castaway_mealworms

The next day kicked off with a bit of breakfast followed by a fire lighting test where we had to boil a pot of water on the beach, we were provided with a bowdrill set a pot and a small amount of charcloth. Luckily I was able to find very near by an old fence post with a bit of barbed wire attached and within a couple of minutes had a nice adjustable pot hanger. There was an abundance of kindling materials nearby and I was surprised how quickly we actually got the water boiled as my bowdrill technique isn’t the best (it’s a lot better now), we then had a talk and demonstration on various firelighting techniques held by Arthur, one of the instructors. We were given some flour so lunch consisted of a bit of bannock. In the afternoon we had a talk on water filtration and learnt how to make improvised water filters out of natural materials. Then came dinner, Partridge, again whole with feathers.

DAY 3

In the morning “Nobby” one of the instructors came into camp with a map and set of coordinates and said we could find breakfast at the location of the coordinates, luckily myself and a couple of others had a little experience in map reading and I was quickly able to locate our camp on the map and find the location of our breakfast. We set out and had a nice walk together through some beautiful countryside to the location of the food cache. When we got there all we found was a bottle with a piece of paper with another set of coordinates on, we located them on the map (the beach right by our camp, great!) and set out for the location and found the food stash. We had a little talk on sea survival and then got to experience the cramped uncomfortable conditions of being in a life raft at sea (which I managed to fall out of and get a dunking whilst trying to climb out of, at least I can say I managed to get a bath).

castaway_whittling

We got dried and had a bite to eat, bannock again whilst I taught Tara one of the other castaways how to carve a spatula to cook with and then we learned trapping skills and did a foraging exercise. We all learned some valuable lessons on various plants and their uses. Next came prepping for dinner, rabbit, cleaning them and digging a large pit as an improvised oven heating up rocks. Whilst the improvised oven was cooking our bunnies we had a talk on navigation, although I know how to navigate I still found this a very valuable lesson. Next was dinner and then bed as it was very late by this time.

castaway_dinner

DAY 4

We were surprised when in the morning the instructors came into camp and said they were taking everything other than what we were wearing, knives saws and a cooking pot. It was time to test ourselves on everything we had learned. Myself and Richard went out foraging up the beach whilst the others made a water filter and started cleaning water (as our water supply had been contaminated by the instructors), collecting firewood and improving our shelter. We went up the beach a little way and then split up, Richard going back along the beach to collect blackberries and damsons that we had found and myself going back through the woods, I found a few mushrooms that I knew were edible but I did double-check with the instructors just to make sure they were safe.

castaway_fungi

The day was spent mostly foraging, filtering and boiling water and improving the shelter. Once it got dark it was time to put to practice the navigational skills we had previously learned, this was a little daunting at first doing it in the pitch black with only a head torch for light but we completed the task and there was a huge sense of achievement felt by all at the end. Next bed, cold and not very comfortable but it could have been worse. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that at the beginning of the challenge we were given an egg each and told not to break it and to keep it on us at all times or there would be consequences, luckily I had a billycan with me that I could sacrifice for egg protection so I put my egg in it wrapped in moss. We were told that the purpose of the egg was so that we had some food for this test and luckily all of us still had an intact egg.

DAY 5

We got up early and had breakfast provided by the instructors (we were all feeling hungry and cold so a hot breakfast was very welcome. We struck the camp cleaned up and walked out of the area to an arranged pick up. We then went back to the hotel where we met where we had a hearty lunch and awards were given, I felt very proud when I found out I had won the award for raising the most money. Next was a fond farewell and we all made our way home

Over the course of the castaway challenge we learned many valuable survival skills and the instructors were second to none. Life in camp wasn’t easy and there was always something that needed to be done but the atmosphere was excellent and strong friendships were made. I will definitely be doing the challenge again, it really is an experience of a lifetime and I can honestly say it was one of the best weeks of my life. As I’m writing this it’s been less than 24 hours since we left the castaway camp and a part of me wishes I was still there

James Harris – Castaway survivor

castaway_james

https://www.justgiving.com/castawayjim/

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